Improvement in machines for dressing willow for baskets



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

MATILDA C. ROOT, HARRIS COLT, ANI) ELISHA COLT, OF HARTFORD, (ION- NEUTICUT, EXECUTORS 0F E. K. ROOT, DECEASED.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DRESSING WILLOW FOR BASKETS.

Spec-illcation forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,958, dated October 16, 1566.

To a?! whom it may concern:

Bc it known that E. K. oo'l, deceased, late of Hartford, in the county ot' Hartford and State of Connecticut, did invent certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Shaving or Dressing Iillow Switches and other thin strips of wood, of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, making part of this specification.

In the preparation of willow and other switches for the manufacture of baskets and the numerous other articles produced by the weaving together of such prepared switches or strips of wood, it has been customary to peel the bark from the switch, then split it, and tinally shave andiinish smoothly the split pieces or strips, and numerous machines have been suggested to perform the operation of peeling and some to perform the operation of splitting and shaving.

Said invention has for its objects to provide au improved organized and automatic machine, into which the split strips may be fed, and from which they will be discharged in a shaven and smoothly-finished condition and of about a uniform thickness; and to these ends said invention consists in a machine composed of a shaving knife or knives, in combination with a traveling sustaining-sur`- face, to which the strip of wood is fed, secured at its foremost end, and by which the strip is drawn under the shaving mechanism, as hereinafter described; and also in the employment, in connection with the said traveling bed and shaving mechanism, of a clamping device to catch and hohl the end of the switch to be fed to the knives, and of a yieldingl presserroll to hold the switch down, all as hereinafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use said new machine for shaving and finishing switches or thin strips of wood, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which- I `igure l is a side elevation of a machine embodying theiuvention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section at the line w x, Fig. 2.

In the several figures the same letter designates the same part of the machine.

A is the frame of the machine, which may be supported by a suitable base, l), and which is closed up on its two sides, as seen at E, and partially at the top in circular form, as seen at F, so as to constitute a sort of housing or case, within which is mounted a rotary disk or wheel, 1I. This wheel or circular bed-plate is innig on a shaft, U, which has its bearings (as clearly seen) formed in the frame A, and is provided with a pulley or crank, through the medium of which motion is imparted to it from the motor employed to run the machine.

G Gr are stands or frames secured to the top of the case, (within which the wheel II rotates,) to which are attached, in a manner to be presenti y described, the shaving blades or knives a nl 'nz and the spring presserroll y.

In the periphery ofthe wheel II is cut a slot, V, and recess 4, (see Fie. 2,) and in the said recess, at one end of said slot, is arranged a clamping-finger or turn-button, a?, which is formed on one end of a small shaft, J, which has near its other end a cam or toe, I, and is surrounded by a spiral spring, m, which forces and holds the said clamp a2 and its shaft J in a given position, as and for the purpose hero inat'ter to be explained.

I is an arc, which is secured to the inner side of case E by means of bolts k 7c, and which depresses and holds down the cam I, as will be presently explained.

B is the table upon which the operator places the switches to be shaved. It may be provided with guide-boards G G to retain the stock laterally, and from this table the split strips are fed one by one to the wheel H and its clamp a2.

As is clearly shown, the stands G G are formed with six square holes (three in each) opposite each other, and in these openin gs are arranged the ends of the three knives n nlug, resting upon set-screws s s s s s s, and heldV down thereupon by set-screws o o o. By the adjust` ment of these supportiu g and retaining screws s ando the several knives a al n?, it will he seen, may be set and retained in any desired relative positions, and also at any desired angle. They should be adjusted as represented, nl a little lower than n, and n2 a little lower than al, so as to divide the whole amount of stock to be shaven ott' into three successive cuts or shavings.

1n Fig. 2 we have shown the work or feed table B as if partially broken oit'.

At Fie'. 3 we have illustrated in red the end of a strip as it would appear when caught by the clamp a2, ready to be carried to the shaving mechanism.

The presser-roll y is mounted in the ends of two spring levers or bars, yw in, which are secured to the adjacent vertical sides ot' the stands G G by means of screws b l), (see Fig. 2, 3,) and the etective force of these springbars in holdingl the roll y down toward the periphery of the wheel 1I is varied by the adjustment ot'two set-screws, q q, arranged in the plates p p, which are secured to the tops of the two stands G G.

The operation of the several parts alluded to may be thus explained:

The strips of split wood or switches to be finished or shaven are placed upon the table B, between the guides C C, and from there fed to the machine by the operative. Power being applied to the shaft U, the wheel ll revolves at a suitable velocity in the direction indicated by the arrows at Fin'. l. As the slot V appears (to the operator) above the plane of the table B the end ot' a strip is quickly dropped or placed in it and pressed downward in it. As the wheel thus receives the end of the strip in its slot V the clamp a? is held up and ont of the way, as seen in red lines at Fig. 2, by means of the are I, which is holding in the cam l,- but by the time the switch and slot get into the relative position seen at Fig. 3 the cam l will have passed by the upper end of are l` and flown out, actuated by the spring m, and the shaft J, turning, will throw the button or clamp a2 down onto the end of the switch, and clamp it into the lower end of the slot V, as illustrated at Fie'. As the wheel H continues its rotation the clamped end of the switch is drawn under the presserroll y, and thence onward under the succession of knives nu1 n2, and as it passes under said knives, resting meantime on the periphery ot' the wheel H, the switch is shaved down to a given thickness and smooth surface and discharged from the machine, when the operation is repeated on another strip as the slot and and clamp come around again to the operatives table B, and so on.

The switch is, of course, laid in the slot willi the side uppermost which requires shaving.

The circumference of the wheel Il should be somewhat greater than the length of the longest switches, and always great enough to avoid any injurious bending of the switch while undergoing the operation of shaving.

Although we deem the succession of knives, arranged as explained, well adapted to perform the desired operation, and have successfully employed them in practice, it is obvious that other arrangements oi' the cutting mechanism or device may be employed without departing' from the spirit ot' the invention; and it will also be understood that the invention is not limited to the peculiar device shown for griping and holding the end ot' the twig as it is passed into the slot of the rotary hed-plate or carriage li.

It will be understood that in said improved machine (unlike those heretofore made) the foremost end ot' the switch is fastened down to the rotating bed and drawn or pulled under the shaving mechanism during the entire shaving operation, so that there is no liability of the switch being crimped and roughlyY shaved, as it is likely to be in other machines previous to this invention.

llaving described the construction and operation of the improved willow-shaving machine, whatwe claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters latent, is

rlhe employment, in combination with the shaving mechanism, of a rotatory carriage or bed, to which the foremost end ofthe switch is fastened, and by which the switch is pulled or drawn by the cutters during the shaving operation, as hercinbefcre described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and soeals this 25th day of October, 1.865.

MATILDA U. ROOT. il..

HARRIS COI/l. |L.

ELlSllA COLT. IL. s] Titnesses to signatures of Matilda (l. ltoot and Elisha Colt:

(l. N. SIUPMAN, H. K. W. WnLcn. \Vitnesscs to signature of llarris Colt:

Cuirs. li. SMITH, J. SrENcnu Snrrn. 

